Broken Slavey
Encyclopedia
Broken Slavey is a trade language used between Indians and whites in the Yukon
area (for example, in around Liard River
and in the Mackenzie River
district) in the 19th century.
Broken Slavey is based primarily on the Slavey language
with elements from French
, Cree
, and perhaps to a lesser extent English
. However, there is some disagreement among sources: Petitot (1889) states that it lacks English, Dene Suline
(Chipewyan), or Gwich’in
(Kutchin) elements in contrast to the neighbouring Loucheux Pidgin (a nearby trade language) while Dall (1870) states that it includes English elements and McClellan (1981) states that it contained Dene Suline influences. Later sources have ignored the earlier accounts and assumed that "Broken Slavey" is merely French vocabulary (loanword
s) used in northern Athabascan languages. Michael Krauss has suggested that French loanwords in Athabascan languages may have been borrowed via Broken Slavey.
A further difference among sources is that Petitot distinguishes the Broken Slavey trade language spoken along the Mackenzie River from a different trade language called Loucheux Pidgin that was spoken along the Peel
and Yukon
rivers (both of which are tributaries of the Mackenzie). Other contemporary sources as well as later sources do not make a distinction between Broken Slavey and Loucheux Pidgin, which may explain their inclusion of English, Dene Suline, and Gwich’in as influences on Broken Slavey.
The native languages of speakers who used Broken Slavey (known in Alaska as 'Slavey') were Dene Suline, French, Gwich’in, Inuktitut
, Slavey. One notable speaker of Slavey Jargon was Antoine Hoole, the Hudson's Bay Company translator at Fort Yukon. Hoole (or Houle) was a professional servant of the Company who served for well over twenty years at Peel River and at Fort Yukon.
Having a French-speaking father and a Métis mother, Hoole was born in 1827 and raised in a household where at least two languages were spoken. He originally came from Fort Halkett on the Liard River in what is now the southern Yukon Territory. He probably spoke South Slavey because that was the Indian language spoken around the Liard River, although Sekani and Kaska people also frequented the area. Hoole died in Fort Yukon at the age of forty-one, on October 22, 1868. The Gwich’in apparently stopped speaking the jargon in the early 20th century. The gold rush, with its massive influx of English speakers into the region beginning in 1886, probably provided a death blow. One speaker, Malcolm Sandy Roberts of Circle, Alaska, continued to use it in a diminished form until his death in 1983.
The best written historical documentation of Slavey Jargon shows its actual use was for preaching the gospel and for teasing and harassing clergymen, and for interpersonal relationships. For all these reasons, it seems inaccurate to characterize it strictly as a trade jargon.
Broken Slavey has recently been documented with a few vocabulary items and phrases (collected in Petitot's work) and only a little of its grammar and lexicon. However, more information may yet be discovered in archives through missionary records and traders' journals.
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
area (for example, in around Liard River
Liard River
The Liard River flows through Yukon, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows southeast through British Columbia, marking the northern end of the Rocky Mountains and then curving northeast back...
and in the Mackenzie River
Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
district) in the 19th century.
Broken Slavey is based primarily on the Slavey language
Slavey language
Slavey is an Athabaskan language spoken among the Slavey First Nations of Canada in the Northwest Territories where it also has official status....
with elements from French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Cree
Cree language
Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...
, and perhaps to a lesser extent English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. However, there is some disagreement among sources: Petitot (1889) states that it lacks English, Dene Suline
Dene Suline language
Dene Suline or Chipewyan is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of central Canada. It is a part of the Athabaskan family...
(Chipewyan), or Gwich’in
Gwich’in language
The Gwich’in language is the Athabaskan language of the Gwich’in indigenous people. It is also known in older or dialect-specific publications as Kutchin, Takudh, Tukudh, or Loucheux. In the Northwest Territories and Yukon of Canada, it is used principally in the towns of Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort...
(Kutchin) elements in contrast to the neighbouring Loucheux Pidgin (a nearby trade language) while Dall (1870) states that it includes English elements and McClellan (1981) states that it contained Dene Suline influences. Later sources have ignored the earlier accounts and assumed that "Broken Slavey" is merely French vocabulary (loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
s) used in northern Athabascan languages. Michael Krauss has suggested that French loanwords in Athabascan languages may have been borrowed via Broken Slavey.
A further difference among sources is that Petitot distinguishes the Broken Slavey trade language spoken along the Mackenzie River from a different trade language called Loucheux Pidgin that was spoken along the Peel
Peel River (Canada)
The Peel River is a tributary of the Mackenzie River in the Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada. Its source is in the Ogilvie Mountains in the central Yukon at the confluence of the Ogilvie River and Blackstone River...
and Yukon
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
rivers (both of which are tributaries of the Mackenzie). Other contemporary sources as well as later sources do not make a distinction between Broken Slavey and Loucheux Pidgin, which may explain their inclusion of English, Dene Suline, and Gwich’in as influences on Broken Slavey.
The native languages of speakers who used Broken Slavey (known in Alaska as 'Slavey') were Dene Suline, French, Gwich’in, Inuktitut
Inuit language
The Inuit language is traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and to some extent in the subarctic in Labrador. The related Yupik languages are spoken in western and southern Alaska and Russian Far East, particularly the Diomede Islands, but is severely endangered in Russia today and...
, Slavey. One notable speaker of Slavey Jargon was Antoine Hoole, the Hudson's Bay Company translator at Fort Yukon. Hoole (or Houle) was a professional servant of the Company who served for well over twenty years at Peel River and at Fort Yukon.
Having a French-speaking father and a Métis mother, Hoole was born in 1827 and raised in a household where at least two languages were spoken. He originally came from Fort Halkett on the Liard River in what is now the southern Yukon Territory. He probably spoke South Slavey because that was the Indian language spoken around the Liard River, although Sekani and Kaska people also frequented the area. Hoole died in Fort Yukon at the age of forty-one, on October 22, 1868. The Gwich’in apparently stopped speaking the jargon in the early 20th century. The gold rush, with its massive influx of English speakers into the region beginning in 1886, probably provided a death blow. One speaker, Malcolm Sandy Roberts of Circle, Alaska, continued to use it in a diminished form until his death in 1983.
The best written historical documentation of Slavey Jargon shows its actual use was for preaching the gospel and for teasing and harassing clergymen, and for interpersonal relationships. For all these reasons, it seems inaccurate to characterize it strictly as a trade jargon.
Broken Slavey has recently been documented with a few vocabulary items and phrases (collected in Petitot's work) and only a little of its grammar and lexicon. However, more information may yet be discovered in archives through missionary records and traders' journals.